Thursday, November 20, 2014

Naomi Bellina's "Don't Say No" and a #Rafflecopter #giveaway!

I was a
mystery shopper

Of all the
strange jobs I've ever had in my life (and I've had some weird ones!) being a
mystery shopper was one of my faves. I worked for a company that managed
several apartment complexes and my job was to evaluate an employee and the site
by acting like I wanted to rent a unit. I had to call and make sure I got the
person that was supposed to be "shopped" and set up a time to meet
them. They had to show me around the complex and convince me to rent an
apartment there.

It was
surprisingly easy for me to get into that role. Even though I was living in a
house at the time, I remember those days of looking for the perfect apartment
home. Kind of fun but kind of stressful too. It was a big decision, deciding
where I wanted to live. I like my home environment to be clean and peaceful and
the place had to be in a good neighborhood. I was usually on a limited budget,
which narrowed down my choices. I managed to find some good places and a few
not-so-great ones during my years of searching.

For this
assignment, I really wanted the employees I talked with to do well and
thankfully, they all did. The worst I had to report was one woman who greeted
me in a dress that looked like the kind I wear around my house when nobody can
see me and all my other clothes are in the laundry. I cut her some slack
because I was shopping the day after I holiday. I figured she ate too much the
day before and couldn't fit into anything else. Ha! My favorite employee was
the one who, after I told her I just broke up with my boyfriend, said the upper
floor unit would be perfect for me. I could be Rapunzel in her tower, waiting
for the right guy to come along. This woman was so sincere, I could see myself
perched on the balcony, greeting a man below.

In Don't
Say No, Amber is shopping a spa that Jaeger and his family want to buy. She
gets to enjoy the spa services, paid for by Jaeger's company. I would jump at
the chance for this assignment!

Have you ever
had a really weird but sort of cool job? Thanks so much for reading.

Here’s what
Don’t Say No is about:

Mixing
business with pleasure has never been so much fun

Amber’s life
sucks. Her ex got her thrown out of college, then fired from her job. When
she’s hired for a mystery shopping assignment, she hopes this is exactly what
she needs to kick-start her life and get her back on track.

Jaeger is all
business when he hires Amber to check out the spa he’s purchasing. If she can
help him prove that the venture will be a success, then he can build his own
future, not the one his family has mapped out for him. Becoming attracted to
his sexy spy isn’t part of the plan.

Amber can’t
see how she fits into Jaeger’s world, and he’s too uptight to ever fit into
hers. Circumstances bring them together, in bed and out, but when a secret from
his upper-class life is revealed, Amber must decide if she can trust him. Or is
her life going down in flames all over again?

She picked it
up and raised an eyebrow. “A script? You think I can memorize this in half an
hour? Anyway, I don't need a script.“

Amber pushed
it back toward him.

Jaeger
frowned. “You need to make sure they think you're just visiting. You can't let
on that you're evaluating them.”

“Okay, duh,
I've got it. I know what to do. I have been to a spa once or
twice in my life. I know how to act like a guest.”

She dug into
her food. They sat at Pancake Palace again, and this time Amber had ordered
scrambled eggs and hash browns. The small order. She didn't want to be overly
full while getting her treatments. Jaeger had insisted on meeting before she
went to the spa to brief her. Brief her. That's what he'd said.
Like this was some kind of tactical mission.

“Here then,
look at the evaluation form you'll be completing on each employee.”

Amber took the
paper and studied it while Jaeger scanned her completed employment application.

“You took two
years off between high school and college? What did you do during that time?”

Was he allowed
to ask that? Was it any of his business?

“I traveled
around with my boyfriend. We wanted to visit a bunch of different states.”Plenty
of people did that. Some even went to Europe and other foreign places.

She sighed
inwardly at the memory. Team Amber/Randy had had a good time those two years,
no regrets. It had been a great experience, staying with friends and in
hostels, meeting new people, working a few temp jobs to make money, and not
having a set agenda. She'd learned a lot during those days.

“No college?”

The question
was asked innocently enough, but Amber stiffened. Well, this was bound to come
up, if not now, then later. Jaeger could probably find out about the sordid
Event anyway, and it wasn't the worst thing in the world. She hadn't committed
a felony or hurt anyone. Plenty of people got kicked out college.

“I went to
Camton University for two weeks, then was asked to leave.”

He looked up
from the paper. “You were asked to leave?”

“Do I stutter?
It's a long story. I don't feel like getting into it. What, I can't be your
mystery shopper without a college education?”

“I didn't say
that.”He went back to reading her application. “What were you studying?”

He looked up
again. She knew he wanted to hear more, wanted to know something about her.
What could she tell him that would inspire trust? He'd already hired her, sort
of. He could dismiss her just as easily though. She was going to have this
conversation with other employers, she realized. Might as well work on her
spiel now.

Picking at the
paper placemat, she forced herself to look him in the eye and answer. “Business
management. My boyfriend, Randy, and I were going to open our own business.”

“And you're
not now?”

“No.”

“Was your
boyfriend the man you were pelting with baked goods at Taylor's Café?”

“Yes.”

Jaeger's mouth
turned up slightly at the corner. “I take it the relationship ended badly.”

“You think?”

He laughed.
“What kind of business?”

She stopped
fussing with the placemat and sat up straighter. “We were going to call it Fun
on the Beach. We would rent out toys to people who were vacationing at hotels.
You know, Frisbees, kites, stuff like that. Cheap toys, so if they got broke,
no big deal. Parents don't have enough toys, the kids get bored. Or the adults
want something to do besides sit around, so they fly a kite. It was a great
idea.”

Her shoulders
slumped. Yeah, was.

“You're kind
of young to be running a business,” she added.

It was time to
get the focus of this conversation off her and her failures.

“I'm not
running a business. It's my family's company. I've been assigned this project.
And I'm not that young. I'm only several years older than you, I believe.”

She crossed
her arms. It was illegal to ask her age, she knew that, but he
could figure it out from her application. Okay, enough of this. She needed to
get in a spa frame of mind, not pick a fight with her employer.

“Tell me more
about Bella Sun. What's going on there that you need to know about?” she asked
and bent back to her food.

“Actually, I
think it would be better if you don't know. I want you to go in with fresh
eyes, to observe.”

“Oh, come on,
give me a hint. Is there a specific problem I should look for?”

He took a sip
of his tea. The server had looked at him like he was nuts when he'd requested
Earl Grey. She'd asked who that was. Jaeger was not trying to be snobby, Amber
suspected, but he was obviously used to a slightly different lifestyle from the
one they had in Palm Groves. He'd settled for a decaf tea bag, which Amber
guessed was dug out of a dusty box buried on a shelf.

“We just want
to identify employees who are not happy or causing trouble.”

“If I give
them a bad report, will they get fired?”

“No, we can't
do that. We'll talk to them first and see if we can resolve any issues. If that
doesn't work, we'll cut their hours enough so they leave voluntarily. Your
input will have some effect, yes. You understand that, right? Are you still up
to the job?” he asked.

She snapped
him a salute. “I do, and I am.”

Where to
find me: (I play around at Pinterest, Goodreads, and other places

Naomi lives in
sunny Florida with the love of her life and a magical calico cat. She
writes for various fiction and non-fiction markets but is drawn to romance
because her characters insist on canoodling and falling in love. So she lets
them. Her interests include dancing, motorcycle riding, drumming and
creating healthy meals. She takes the opportunity to play whenever
possible. Her motto: Never pass up the opportunity to have an
adventure!

About Me

Best-selling, award-winning author Suz deMello has written nineteen books in several genres, including nonfiction, memoir, romance, erotica, comedy, historical, paranormal, mystery and suspense, plus a number of short stories and articles on writing. She has also contributed to several bestselling boxed sets. Learn more about her books at her site, suzdemello.com.